Java Memory Leaks : Introduction #

As we know, memory management in different languages has been implemented in various ways. Due to this, developers must focus on allocating and cleaning memory based on the languages they use.

For example, if we are writing a program in C/C++, the responsibility of allocating and cleaning memory is mostly on the developers. Given that developers should focus more on preventing memory leaks when it comes to these types of languages.

However, when we are using a language like Java, the allocation and deallocation of memory is automatically done by the JVM Memory Management and Garbage Collector itself. So, the developers can give less focus on managing the allocation and de-allocation of memory. Does this mean developers no longer need to worry about Memory leaks in a language like Java?

The Answer is “NO, Developers should still be careful about memory leaks, since there are some cases which can lead the program into Memory Leaks in Java.”

Now let’s see what a memory leak in Java means,

Memory leak in Java means there are Objects inside the memory, which still have references, but are no longer used by the program. So, these Objects are not getting collected by the garbage collector due to active references. Since these referenced unused Objects are not used by the application, and are also not collected by the Garbage Collector, these types of Objects waste the memory of the program unnecessarily.

We should take necessary measures to avoid these Objects gradually consuming memory over time. Here are the most common cases where Memory leaks in Java can happen. Let’s try to simulate, debug, and resolve each one by one for better understanding.

1. Static Fields
2. Unclosed Resources
3. Hash-Based Collections
4. Unregistered Listeners and Callbacks
5. Non Static Inner Class
6. Class Finalizers
7. Intern String Pool
8. Thread Local Misuse

Each of these cases will be explained in linked articles.

Happy Coding 🙌